NPTR: Alert #268: Unbelievable!

[Wayne Fischer]

Unbelievable!
 
ALERT:#268
DATE:March 20, 2013
TO:Incline Village & Crystal Bay
Property Owners
FROM:Village League Tax Revolt Committee
 
Dear
Incline Village & Crystal Bay Property Tax Protesters,
 
The
North Lake Tahoe Bonanza published the following guest column on the latest status
of our property tax revolt for Incline Village and Crystal Bay. 
 
---------------------------------
 
Jim Clark: The latest in Incline Village’s tax revolt
saga
 
INCLINE
VILLAGE, Nev. — Well, another exciting chapter in the saga of Village League to
Save Incline Assets versus Bureaucrats, Bunglers and Bums has opened up. Before
I get into that let me refresh your memory.
 
A
decade ago, when Incline Crystal Bay property values began to rise, the Washoe
County Assessor created a valuation system for our community assigning a
premium assessment to any property that appeared from curbside to have a view
of the lake; a premium assessment to lakefront properties depending on how many
rocks were on the beach; and deriving land values by comparable sales of land
and buildings and calling it all land value (because the house would probably
be torn down anyhow).
 
He
had no idea how to assess condominium land values, so he guessed.
 
Some
property owners, who subsequently formed the Village League, decided to object
because Nevada’s Constitution says taxes must be uniform and equal and an
assessment methodology that only applied to Incline/Crystal Bay didn’t meet
that test.
 
The
only legal method to object is to file an appeal with the County Board of
Equalization within a very short time after receiving a notice of assessment,
which they did. The County Board said “no soap,” but suggested an appeal to the
State Board of Equalization, which they did. Same result.
 
The
next move was to go to court, which they did. That began ten long years of
litigation in trial courts, Nevada’s Supreme Court and various equalization
boards which culminated in the Nevada Supreme Court’s determination that the
method of assessment was unconstitutional, affirming a trial court decision
that the remedy was to roll assessments back to the latest year that was free
of unconstitutional tinkering (tax year 2002-3).
 
Anything
collected based on higher assessments had to be returned with interest. Washoe
County is currently sending local property owners refund checks.
 
Now
it gets a little complicated. Procedurally, the Village League had to bring
separate suits for each tax year. The tax years 2003-4, 2004-5 and 2005-6 were
not included in the Supreme Court’s refund order but in a later ruling
involving these tax years the Court ordered the State Board of Equalization to
take steps to insure Nevada’s taxes are uniform and equal.
 
The
Board met last September and issued an order to Incline/Crystal Bay roll
assessments back to 2002-3 levels (consistent with the previous Supreme Court
decision).
 
Then,
without explanation, the Board met again in December, vacated the previous
ruling, and ordered the Washoe Assessor to reassess all Incline/Crystal Bay
properties for the years in question. After screwing the whole thing up the
assessor gets a second bite of the apple. Revenge!
 
I
don’t have to tell you how disturbing it would be to get a surprise notice from
Washoe County saying you owe thousands of dollars for those tax years. Or to
hear from someone you sold your house to five years ago that you owe for taxes
accrued before the sale.
 
Appeal
the assessment? Sorry, appeals have to be for the current tax year. File a
claim with your title insurance company? Nope. Title policies only insure
against items of record as of the date of issue. Screwed? Maybe not.
 
Once
more into the breach the Village League has filed a vigorous opposition to this
radical and unprecedented order by the State Board of Equalization. Not
surprisingly Washoe County has filed its concurrence with the idiotic order …
they want their money back.
 
Whether
or not you have previously supported the Village League now is the time to make
a tax deductible donation to their effort. The address is 1165 Vivian Lane,
Incline Village 89451.
 
Jim
Clark is president of Republican Advocates and has served on the Washoe County
& Nevada State GOP Central Committees; he can be reached at
tahoesbjc at aol.com.
 
---------------------------------
 
Best
Regards,
Wayne
Fischer,Webmaster
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org
 
---------------------------------
 
Village League to Save Incline Assets
Board Members:
- Maryanne Ingemanson,President
- Dale Akers, Historian
- Les Barta,Law
Research
- Wayne Fischer, Webmaster
- Todd Lowe, Financial,
- Chuck Otto, Public
Relations 
 
Village
League to Save Incline Assets, Inc.
Non-Profit
Corporation - FEIN 88-0399029
1165 Vivian Lane, Incline Village, NV 89451
Phone: 775-831-4011, Fax 775-831-0325
www.NevadaPropertyTaxRevolt.org
 
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